Even though Gu Xuehan already knew about Qi Xi and Gu Yan’s relationship, neither of them let up on their work at the firm because of it. Both of them still handled their respective cases diligently, though they did end up staying late together more often. Qi Xi didn’t find it tiring at all—if anything, she felt completely satisfied. She got to date her boyfriend while spending time with him, without wasting a single moment, and she was improving professionally too. It felt practically perfect.

Though Gu Xuehan had invited Qi Xi to come meet Gu Yan’s parents together, Qi Xi still felt a bit awkward and shy about it, still not quite mentally ready. Fortunately, Gu Yan understood and never pushed her.

On this particular day, it was her mother Xi Wen’s birthday. Gu Yan couldn’t come along, but he didn’t seem upset about it. Still, looking at the message he’d sent, Qi Xi could sense the disappointment he was trying hard to hide—he seemed to genuinely long to meet Qi Xi’s parents as her official boyfriend, as if meeting them would be like a contract finally being signed and sealed.

Qi Xi did plan to bring Gu Yan to meet her parents. It was just that the last time she’d gone home, she hadn’t even managed to see her own father—the friction between them, stemming from the earlier conflicts over her studying abroad and the blind dates he’d arranged, still hadn’t fully been resolved. She felt like things on her family’s side needed to be handled one step at a time.

Still, Qi Xi was genuinely happy about celebrating her mother’s birthday today. Her father, Qi Ruiming, had booked out an entire upscale Western restaurant and even hired an event planning company to decorate the space—roses and balloons everywhere, along with a cake and champagne. It was stylish and romantic, almost unlike her father’s usual style.

In the past, her father would simply take the family of three out to a restaurant, order a cake, and bring a gift—nothing more. Seeing him go to such lengths this time genuinely moved Qi Xi, and she greeted her father warmly and naturally. The earlier friction between father and daughter seemed to melt away in the glow of Xi Wen’s birthday celebration.

“Honestly, we’re not young anymore, why go through all this trouble? All this preparation must have taken forever.”

Facing her mother’s complaint, Qi Ruiming laughed heartily. “I had my assistant handle it. Young people have all sorts of ideas.”

Xi Wen, the guest of honor, beamed with happiness. Though she kept grumbling about how extravagant it all was, Qi Xi could tell that the shy pleasure on her mother’s face was completely genuine—the complaints were just bashful chatter.

In the end, egged on by Qi Xi and Qi Ruiming, Xi Wen made her birthday wish and blew out the candles.

The whole family of three was in high spirits throughout the celebration. When it came time for gifts, Qi Xi had picked out a beautiful brooch, hair clip, and necklace set for her mother, which delighted Xi Wen. Then it was her father’s turn.

Sure enough, Qi Ruiming produced a gift box wrapped in decorative paper.

Xi Wen opened it, a little shy and nervous, while Qi Xi filmed the moment on her phone, hoping to capture her mother’s surprised, delighted reaction to an Hermès gift.

The box did contain a bag. When Xi Wen pulled it out, her face did show a mix of surprise and shock—but the person who was actually most shocked throughout wasn’t her. It was Qi Xi.

What Xi Wen pulled out wasn’t Hermès at all. It was a Coach bag.

Compared to Qi Xi’s stunned reaction, her mother looked absolutely delighted. She immediately put it on her shoulder to check how it looked, clearly smitten. “The color matches my clothes perfectly, and it’s roomy too—easy to carry when I go grocery shopping.”

Qi Ruiming laughed as well. “As long as you like it, that’s what matters. It’s not easy finding a gift that’ll satisfy you. I thought about it a lot, and figured this bag suits you best—not too expensive, so you won’t nag me about wasting money, a practical, reasonably priced brand. And since you mostly just go out for groceries and errands, this bag won’t get scuffed up, while still showing that my wife has some standing. Even the grocery bag a wife of the Qi family carries should be worth at least a few thousand yuan.”

Qi Ruiming, with his law school background and years steeped in legal practice, had a silver tongue. A few sentences were enough to have Xi Wen laughing nonstop, the two of them bantering back and forth affectionately.

It should have been a happy, hopeful family scene, the kind that made you believe in marriage. But sitting at the table, Qi Xi’s mind was churning with turmoil.

If what her father had given her mother was a Coach bag, then what about that expensive Hermès bag?

Where was that bag?

Qi Xi had already harbored some doubts before, but at the time she’d assumed Qi Ruiming was planning some kind of birthday surprise for Xi Wen, and that assumption had temporarily put her suspicions to rest. But now…

The unease and turmoil in her heart surged back like a rising tide.

And it was in this moment that a detail she’d deliberately overlooked before resurfaced—the color of that Hermès bag had been a touch too youthful and vibrant, not at all the kind of bag a woman her mother’s age would carry. It had looked more like something suited to someone Qi Xi’s own age.

Because of that bag, Qi Xi’s emotions had already been jolted several times. She glanced at her father, who was now standing with his arm around her mother’s shoulder as they cut the cake together, and felt a pang of guilt—they looked so genuinely affectionate. Was she once again reading bias into everything he did, simply because she resented his preference for sons over daughters?

Maybe that bag had been something he’d picked up on someone else’s behalf. Or maybe he’d bought it as a gift for some client’s daughter, to smooth over a business relationship. After all, thinking about it, this wouldn’t be the first time her father had done something like that—Qi Ruiming poured what could arguably be more effort into cultivating major clients than into actually handling cases, all in the name of earning more.

Qi Xi knew her father had several major clients he maintained particularly close ties with, each paying well over a million yuan a year in standing legal consultation fees alone—not to mention the corporate disputes these big clients frequently brought in. Landing one major client could be worth as much as dozens of small, scattered ones combined, so spending a couple hundred thousand yuan on a bag to win someone over was, in a sense, a cost-effective investment. So it wasn’t impossible. Only…

Only Qi Xi couldn’t shake the unease and anxiety gnawing at her.

Though she’d had her share of complaints about her father—feeling he’d become far too focused on his career in recent years, spending less time with the family—marriage was, after all, a matter between two people, and her mother didn’t seem to have any real complaints about it. Beyond the occasional grumble, she mostly worried that Qi Ruiming was overworked and under too much pressure. And honestly, her parents rarely argued—at most they bickered occasionally, and in most things, her father deferred to her mother.

A father like that surely wouldn’t have an affair, would he?

Perhaps it was the string of cases she’d handled recently that had left her seeing shadows everywhere. Qi Xi felt like she was becoming paranoid.

On such a joyous occasion, she decided not to dwell on these unfounded speculations. Shaking off the tangled thoughts in her head, she joined her father in singing happy birthday to her mother.

**

The birthday party seemed to serve as an icebreaker. Though neither Qi Xi nor Qi Ruiming said anything explicit about it, the tension between them eased considerably afterward.

After spending the weekend at home, Qi Ruiming insisted on driving Qi Xi back to her rented apartment.

“Your mom told me you’re sharing a place with a classmate—what’s her name, Chen Yiran? I remember your friend—wasn’t she your deskmate in high school? You two were so close back then, and I didn’t realize you’re still in touch now. What college did she end up going to, and what’s she doing these days?”

Along the way, it was clear Qi Ruiming was in good spirits, eager to make small talk with Qi Xi. Unfortunately, having been so absent from her upbringing, he had no idea who Qi Xi’s friends actually were. His attempt at playing the doting father, however awkward, only underscored how little he’d paid attention to her life.

Qi Xi had never had a high school classmate named Chen Yiran.

Her high school deskmate wasn’t even a girl.

But Qi Ruiming had no idea.

He’d been so consumed by work that he’d only ever half-registered some fragment of a name from Xi Wen’s offhand mentions, and now he was blithely trying to use this mismatched name to bridge the distance with his daughter.

Qi Xi had thought she’d grown numb to disappointments like this. And yet, watching Qi Ruiming clumsily, mistakenly try to get closer to her, to understand her life, she still felt something different stir in her—a small flicker of happiness, as if some long-standing emptiness, one she’d never expected to see filled, was finally beginning to close.

People of her father’s generation weren’t exactly skilled at expressing affection for their children, and that era had never placed much emphasis on cultivating parent-child relationships. The fact that Qi Ruiming, however awkwardly, was now making an effort to talk with her—Qi Xi felt she could at least see some sign of growth and change in him.

Her father did still care about her, even if he wasn’t perfect. He was still her father, and back when he wasn’t so busy, he’d been present throughout much of her childhood, his shadow woven through all those years.

That realization alone was enough to soften her mood.

For once, Qi Xi calmly chatted with Qi Ruiming about her life, telling him about some funny things that had happened recently at work. He listened with genuine interest, and when Qi Xi complained in an exaggerated tone about some difficult clients, he couldn’t help but laugh, sharing some frustrating stories from when he’d first started practicing law—stories that turned out to be even more absurd than hers.

What Qi Xi didn’t let Qi Ruiming know, though, was that the moment he dropped her off at the entrance of her apartment complex and drove away, Gu Yan came walking over from where he’d been waiting nearby to pick her up. The instant he saw her, he took the bag she was carrying right out of her hands, along with a light bag of clothes, as though he couldn’t bear to let her carry anything at all.

Taking the clothes from her, Gu Yan asked, seemingly offhand, “Was that your dad just now?”

Qi Xi, in a good mood, nodded. “Yep!”

“Hm. He seems to care about you a lot. Wasn’t he the one who kept setting you up on blind dates before?”

Though Gu Yan’s tone stayed calm, Qi Xi could already sense the storm brewing beneath his words. With a strong instinct for self-preservation, she cut him off immediately. “I’ll set up a time for you to meet my parents right away!”

She looked at him with a teasing, amused expression. “Don’t rush it. A man’s got to have patience.”

Gu Yan looked mildly put out. “My sister says the only reason I only just found a girlfriend now is because I have too much patience.”

“Okay, okay, our Gu Yan isn’t upset, let me give you a kiss to make it better.” With that, Qi Xi hopped up and planted a quick kiss on the side of his face, sneak-attack style.

Zhao Yiran was home today, so Gu Yan wasn’t planning to come upstairs. He helped carry Qi Xi’s things into the elevator, then made to say goodbye. Qi Xi, on the other hand, held onto him, reluctant to let him go. “You’re leaving already?”

Though Gu Yan’s voice stayed calm, it was clear he was struggling internally with Qi Xi’s attempt to keep him there. In the end, though, he pressed his lips together and declined. “Zhao Yiran’s home.”

Qi Xi grabbed his hand and swung it playfully. “So what if Zhao Yiran’s home? You’re her classmate too, it’s not like you two are strangers.”

“It’s just not that convenient with her there. Let’s not.”

Qi Xi said, a little petulantly, “What’s inconvenient about it? Were you planning to do something illegal or something? Then you…”

Before Qi Xi could finish her sentence, Gu Yan pulled her toward him, one arm wrapping around her waist, drawing her into his chest, and before she could react, he kissed her.

Since they’d started dating, their kisses had always been light, brief touches at first. But lately, Gu Yan’s kisses had grown deeper, more insistent, carrying something more.

Though nothing else happened besides the kiss, the way Gu Yan breathed as he kissed her, the scent of him, the faintly suppressed, subtly charged sound of his breathing, and the low, rough edge his voice took on afterward—it all felt like some kind of spell, some kind of suggestion, leaving Qi Xi’s mind hazy, unable to think of anything else.

“Do you know why I can’t come upstairs?”

Gu Yan’s voice carried a hint of restrained breathlessness as he brushed a hand over her hair. “Because seeing you makes me want to do things like this. And that’s not really something Zhao Yiran should have to witness.”

He leaned in and kissed her once more, then, pulling back from her lips, seemed unable to help himself and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “Alright. Go on up.”

Qi Xi felt a little shy, her voice dropping softer, but she missed him too. Tugging at his sleeve, she said, a bit bashfully, “So you drove all the way here just to see me for a minute downstairs? Isn’t that a bit of a bad trade-off?”

“I wasn’t planning to come at all, but I missed you. I was bored at home, so I took a drive to clear my head, and by the time I realized it, I was already at the entrance to your complex.” Gu Yan’s voice carried a note of resigned self-mockery. “Once I realized I’d ended up here again without meaning to, I felt pretty ridiculous myself. But since I was already here, not seeing you would’ve been the real waste.”

Qi Xi missed him too. She leaned against him, reluctant to leave.

So…

Qi Xi rose onto her toes and, close to his ear, murmured something in a very, very soft voice.

Unfortunately, Gu Yan didn’t quite catch it. He frowned, confused. “What did you say? Too quiet, I didn’t hear it.”

Blushing, Qi Xi forced herself to repeat it—only for Gu Yan to still miss it.

Finally, growing a little exasperated, Qi Xi bit her lip and glared at him fiercely. “I said, I don’t have to go back here tonight. You could take me anywhere you want.”

She said it in a tone that sounded almost like a threat. “We could get a hotel room.”

Gu Yan froze for a moment, looking distinctly tempted. But just as Qi Xi expected him to grab her hand and head straight for the nearest hotel, he called a halt instead—

“No.”

Qi Xi heard the man say that word of refusal in a voice that sounded genuinely strained.

Gu Yan… are you seriously not up for it?

The doubt in Qi Xi’s mind was nearly bursting through the roof.

Her suspicion must have been written all over her face, because Gu Yan’s expression darkened almost instantly. “Qi Xi, whatever you’re thinking right now, stop. That’s not it. Absolutely not.”

Qi Xi shot him a glance, still deeply unconvinced.

“It’s not that—tomorrow night our firm has a friendly basketball match against Yilin Law Firm.” Gu Yan pressed his lips together, explaining with great seriousness. “I’m playing.”

“So?” Qi Xi didn’t see the connection.

Gu Yan seemed not to have expected her to miss the point entirely. Looking a bit helpless, he had no choice but to explain in more detail, doing his best to phrase it delicately. “You know how athletes are advised to abstain before a match, to stay in top form and preserve their energy?”

“…”

Once he’d put it that plainly, even without fully understanding, Qi Xi understood.

Even bringing up the subject clearly left Gu Yan embarrassed. His eyes darted around, unable to meet hers directly, until, after a moment, once he’d composed himself, he finally looked back at her, gently squeezing her fingers in his palm. “So come cheer me on tomorrow night instead.”

Of course she would!

Especially since Yilin Law Firm had plenty of young female lawyers, and wherever there was a basketball game, there were always young women or students on the sidelines watching. Qi Xi definitely wasn’t about to skip the chance to stake her claim.